Wonderful ‘Animated GIFs’ Created Almost 175 Years Ago

The first animated GIF was made in 1987—however, way before that, people have already found a way to view images that seem to be moving through an infinite loop.

Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau was credited with inventing the ‘Phenakistoscope’, which uses the “persistence of vision principle to display the illusion of images in motion”—with this device, users are able to view wonderful animated illustrations.

Consisting of a spinning disc that is attached to a handle, the phenakistoscope was used to display creative animations that range from the delightful to the bizarre.

TheRichard Balzer Collection digitalized a collection of vintage phenakistoscopes and published them on its Tumblr page—you can view more of these hypnotising 19th century “GIFs” over here.